Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, Look upon a little child

Author: Charles Wesley

Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepene… Go to person page >

Gentle Jesus, meek and mild. C. Wesley. [A Child's Prayer.] First published in Hymns & Sacred Poems, 1742; and again in Hymns for Children, 1763, in 7 stanzas of 4 lines. Following it is another hymn, marked pt. ii, and beginning, "Lamb of God, I look to Thee," also in 7 stanzas of 4 lines, thus accounting for the statement sometimes made that the original is in 14 stanzas. Centos from both parts are found in most collections for children in English-speaking countries, and are exceedingly popular with the young. The construction of each cento may be traced by a reference to the original text in Poetical Works, 1868-72, vol. vi. p. 441, No. 336. "Lamb of God," &c, in the Methodist Sunday School Hymn Book, 1879, is entirely from pt. ii., whilst "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild," is compiled from both. Other arrangements are:— (1) “Loving Jesus, gentle Lamb," in the American Methodist Episcopal Hymns, 1849; and (2) "Holy Jesus, Saviour mild," in the Bonchurch Hymn Book, 1868. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)